Readings

FIRST LESSON

The first lesson is from A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson

God exists in eternity. The only point where eternity meets time is in the present. The present is the only time there is. A miracle is a shift in thinking from what we might have done in the past or should do be doing in the future, to what we feel free to do right here, right now. A miracle is a release from internal bondage. Our capacity for brilliance is equal to our capacity to forget the past and forget the future. That's why little children are brilliant. They don't remember the past, and they don't relate to the future.

Forgiving the past is an important step in allowing ourselves the experience of miracles. The only meaning of anything in our past is that it got us here, and should be honored as such. All that is real in our past is the love we gave and the love we received. Everything else is an illusion. The past is merely a thought we have. It is literally all in our minds. To surrender the past to the Holy Spirit is to ask that only loving, helpful thoughts about it remain in our minds, and all the rest be let go.

What we are left with then is the present, the only time where miracles happen. We place the past and the future as well into the hands of God.

The universe provides us with a clean slate in every moment; God's creation holds nothing against us. Our problem is that we don't believe this. Let us ask forgiveness, not of God who has never condemned us, but of ourselves, for all we think we did and did not do. Let us give ourselves permission to begin again.

SECOND LESSON

The second lesson is from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 12 verses 46 through 52

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Then the scribe said to Jesus, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'God is one, and besides God there is no other'; and 'to love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength', and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself’ this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the realm of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.

This Week's Sermon

Date: November 1, 2009

Title:Remember the Past

Message Delivered By: Rev. Dr. Joe McMurray

I’ve already told you how leery I am about Halloween. It is not, I confessed, one of my favorite holidays. And now, it seems, I am, once again, right on target.

The following is an article from the Americans United distribution list:

“Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network Warns Americans Of ‘Demonic’ Halloween Candy”

Put aside your fears of swine flu. TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Web site has just issued a bulletin warning Americans of the real threat we face this season: Demons may be lurking in our Halloween candy.

In a column on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s Web site, writer Kimberly Daniels asserts that “demons” sneak into bags of Halloween candy at grocery stores.

“[M]ost of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches,” Daniels wrote. “I do not buy candy during the Halloween season. Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. The demons cannot tell the difference.”

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, urged Robertson and Daniels to lighten up.

“I’ve heard of the devil being in the details, but to think he’s lurking inside a Snickers bar is a little too much,” Lynn quipped. “Pat Robertson has always peddled some scary stuff, but this is over the top.” By the way, Pat Robertson’s real name is Marion Gordon Robertson, which explains a lot.

Added Lynn, “I hate to see all that candy go to waste. I wish Robertson would send it to me, because I’m throwing a Halloween party and could use it.”

Daniels asserts that far from being harmless fun, Halloween is a veritable doorway to hell, full of literal monsters.
“Halloween is much more than a holiday filled with fun and tricks or treats,” she wrote. “It is a time for the gathering of evil that masquerades behind the fictitious characters of Dracula, werewolves, mummies and witches on brooms. The truth is that these demons that have been presented as scary cartoons actually exist. I have prayed for witches who are addicted to drinking blood and howling at the moon.”

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition and an influential player in American politics, has long opposed Halloween. As far back as 1982, he attacked the holiday as a “Satanic ritual” and said on the air, “I think we ought to close Halloween down.”

CBN later produced a pamphlet titled “Hallowed or Harmful: Christian Perspectives on Halloween.” It asserted, “During Halloween, little children in particular are the weak ones.”

On Oct. 29, 2007, Robertson called Halloween a “festival of the devil” and added that celebrating the holiday is “a mistake for Christians.” Lynn urged Robertson to take a deep breath and try to relax.

“I think Pat has been watching too many scary movies,” Lynn said. “Still, if he doesn’t want to celebrate Halloween, that’s fine with me, but he should quit trying to spoil everyone else’s fun.”

Now in fairness, I did try to access the site directly from the Christian Broadcasting Network online at CBN.com, but the site listed the following message: “We're sorry, the page you have requested cannot be found.” My suspicion is that all the CBN people are hiding in a bunker somewhere deep in the ground until Halloween is over and it’s safe to come out once again.
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Will you pray with me? God, thank you for the humor and creativity you bring into our lives. Perhaps our desire to laugh and make others laugh is our effort to bring a balance to us, as we also experience turmoil, tragedy and sadness at other times. God, help us always to find a balance so that we may desire all the feelings and emotions life has to offer. Let us always be present to one another, to lift one another up when we need it, and to share laughter and joy in the good times. May my words and all of our thoughts be filled with honor and praise to you. Amen.
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Today is All Saints Day, and, as we’ve said, the beginning of our 2010 Pledge Campaign: Creating New Life, Sustaining New Growth. This morning, we take a glimpse at the past, today, to those who laid the groundwork of what we are fortunate enough to have today. We sometimes forget that what we have—what we enjoy—this church, the building, the people in it, the community to which it belongs—are all hear because of the vision and hard work of those that came before us, those that made the plans and laid the groundwork for what they believed they were called to do.

Whether or not this is exactly what they had in mind doesn’t really matter. It is what we have, what we have to work with, and none of it would have been possible without them.

We might think that today’s selection from Mark’s gospel, at first glance, doesn’t have anything to do with the past, particularly our past. There we would be wrong.

Jesus instructs the scribe that the unparalleled love of God, and the fact that we must love one another as deeply as we love ourselves, are the two pronouncements, the two commandments that are greater than all others. Why? Because without these two, the others cannot be fulfilled.

But what does love of God have to do with the existence of this church? What does loving our neighbor as much as we love ourselves have to do with the existence of our programming as we inherited it?

Without loving God and without the faith required by that love, those who dreamed of creating a church like this in the midst of this strange community were just dreaming. A people believing that they could unite themselves in their basic common beliefs and create this church—without love of God—were delusional.

Instead, they used that common belief that God was good, that God was love, and that they, in turn, received that love in abundance. And from that abundant love, a church was born.

And what about this next part: loving your neighbor as yourself? What does that really mean. Many of us know people who really love themselves—I mean, they really love themselves.
I mean they pamper themselves as if they were their own pets. They dress in the newest fashions, they socialize in the classiest circles, and they enjoy the finest food and drink they can afford. They really are in love with themselves—seemingly to an unhealthy narcissistic level.

But before we judge them too harshly, some of these very same people give very generously from what they have acquired. They may get the latest fashion, but they also have given away yesterday’s garments. They may have a tight circle of friends, but they’re not too busy to invite others into their circle, including others from different social classes. And they may enjoy a good meal, but may also serve food three times per week to those who are hungry.

Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Our recent ancestors founded this church under those same principles. Everyone was included; no one was turned away. Those who were hungry were fed. Those who were lonely were visited. Those whose clothing was in tatters were clothed. These are the basic principles upon which this church was founded, and those same principles are very much a part of the mission of this church today.

We didn’t just inherit a building. We inherited a legacy. And though we take that legacy and make it our own, what will those who survive us say about what we left to them? We hope we will be among those they look back upon on All Saints Day and say, “We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for creating this new thing and sustaining it all these years; for pointing us in the right direction; and for keeping to those same principles that apply to us today: loving God above all else, and loving one’s neighbor as one’s self.”

And so we look back at our recent ancestors, and honor their commitment, even as we practice our own.

Marianne Williamson suggests that all that exists from the past is the love that was given and the love that was received. She says we must be grateful in honoring the past, but also encourages us not to dwell there because time marches on. There is much to be done now. So we look back in gratitude and thanksgiving; and we shift our focus to the present.

On the front of your bulletins this morning is a picture of a Banyan Tree, which is also the symbol we will use for our pledge campaign, “Creating New Life, Sustaining New Growth.”

The Banyan tree is a type of fig tree that is native to both Africa and India. When a seed from the Banyan tree finds its way to a crack or crevice from a host tree or structure, it germinates and its roots sprout in downward fashion to the ground.

The Banyan tree receives its nutrients from the air; its roots are conceived in mid-air and wend their way to the ground to add stability for the ever-growing tree. Once rooted, those sprouts bring forth other trunks and other trees, which repeat the process. Banyan trees can live for hundreds of years, and one solitary tree, through the process I described, can cover an acre or more.

I find the symbolism of the Banyan tree too rich to overlook.

Imagine our ancestors, who more than thirty years ago found themselves adrift in the wind. They were not grounded; they sought to belong to the family of faith, but the winds kept blowing them from place to place, never able to find a home, never able to stabilize long enough to plant roots and form a community.

Then, as fate would have it, a seed found its way on the wind, and landed in the crevice of a rock on the small island of Key West. As the sun shined and the rains came, the seedling sprouted and began to find its way to the soil. And it also branched upward, reaching toward the sky.

And a small community formed. And they came together to love God together; to worship together; to welcome sisters and brothers and anyone who wanted to participate. And they loved each other as they loved themselves.

And over the years, the small seedling grew and grew. It continued to find its nutrients above ground. And from many of its strongest branches, new roots began to form and seek out solid ground. And each new trunk that formed strengthened the whole of the tree: not just the original trunk and its branches, but each successive trunk and all its branches.

And the church began to grow. And they loved God even more by loving each other even more. There were many storms it went through in order to survive: unpredictable, unrelenting storms that battered the tree over time. But because of its roots, because of its size and strength, it was able to withstand whatever tormented it.

Many predicted it would not last. Many who had grown tired and weary, also grew jealous of the tree and hoped it would succumb to the storms and the ocean tides. But despite adversity, the tree has survived nearly thirty years.

And through all the adversity that has befallen this church over the years, it has lasted and thrived: because it continued to love God; and because it continued to be a place where all were welcome and all were encouraged to love one another. Creating New Life, Sustaining New Growth.

In the days to come, we’ll hear more and more about the people from this church. We’ll learn how their desire to keep these two commandments have kept this church alive. We’ll experience how their commitments of time and treasure have been the difference in keeping this church relevant in the community. And we’ll hear the words that will lead us to discover the very heart of our community and why it’s just as important for us to take up this legacy now, as it was for them then.

May we continue to follow where God is leading. Amen.